As stated in the parent application, there is need in the medical field for equipment which will rapidly produce clear plastic plates containing a plurality of pockets and passageways for carrying out various chemical reactions. The plates with pockets and passageways may be molded of clear plastic with little difficulty, as shown in FIG. 2 of the parent application.
However, it is essential that a clear plastic cover be laid down over the faces of each plate to completely enclose the pockets in the plate. Because the chemical reactions are read by a computer, the clear plastic must be very precisely laid down in a wrinkle-free condition so that the plate can be accurately read. Heretofore, a clear plastic tape having adhesive on one face thereof has been used to provide covers for each side of the plastic plate.
A prior art method and machine is described in the parent application and schematically depicted in FIG. 1 thereof. This machine utilized a hexagonal wheel having an adhesive laminate strip on some of the sides thereof. The laminate was applied to the plate in a stamping motion. The adhesive laminate was fed to the hexagonal wheel at a first location, was cut into strips at a second location after the wheel had indexed, and was applied to the plate at a third location by moving the plate upwardly to contact the wheel located thereabove. The plate was then turned over and the process repeated for the other side. With this particular machine operating at its best speed, approximately twenty-five plate sides can be done per minute.
The disadvantages of the aforedescribed machine were described in the parent application. While this machine produced generally acceptable results to plates that were evaluated or read manually, it did not produce a sufficiently satisfactory product that could be read by a computer. The air bubbles and wrinkles, often times minute, often produced incorrect readings when taken by the computer.